ssion, in eminently
cosmopolitan circles, composed of a small, elderly, very palpable invalid
and a probable curate in mufti, demanded an order of courage to which
Henrietta felt herself entirely unequal. Preferable the obscurity of
Cotteret-les-Bains--gracious heaven, ten thousand times preferable!

Did not Dr. Stewart-Walker, moreover, hold out hopes that, by following
his advice, the General's strength might be renewed, if not precisely
like that of the eagle, yet in the more modest likeness of some good,
biddable, burden-bearing animal--the patient ass, if one might so put it
without too obvious irony? As handyman, aide-de-camp, and, on occasion,
her groom of the chambers, the General had deserved very well of
Henrietta. He had earned her sincere commendation. To restore him to that
level of convenient activity was, naturally, her main object; and if a
sojourn at some rather dull spot in the Ardennes, promised to secure this
desired end, let it be accepted without hesitation. For the proverbial
creaking, yet long-hanging, gate--here Henrietta had the delicacy to take
refuge in hyperbole--she had no liking whatever. She could not remember
the time when Darby and Joan had struck her as an otherwise than
preposterous couple, offspring of a positively degraded sentimentality.

But there, since it threatened depressing conclusions, Henrietta agreed
with herself to pursue the line of reflection no further.--"Sufficient
unto the day"--to look beyond is, the thirties once passed, to raise
superfluous spectres. And this day, in itself supplied food for
reflections of a quite other character; ones which set both her curiosity
and partiality for intrigue quite legitimately afire.

The morning post had brought her a missive from Colonel Carteret
announcing his "recall" to England, and deploring the imposed haste of
it as preventing him from making his adieux to her in person. The
letter contained a number of flattering tributes to her own charms and
to old times in India, the pleasures of which--unforgettable by him--he
had had the happiness of sharing with her. Yet--to her reading of
it--this friendly communication remained enigmatic, its kindly
sentences punctuated by more than one interjectional enquiry. Namely,
what was the cause of this sudden "recall"? And what was his reason for
not coming to say good-bye to her? Haste, she held an excuse of almost
childish transparency. It went deeper than that. Simply he had wanted
n